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Tuesday, 11 September 2012

Media beckons rural girls

Dr Onkar Kakade has sent in the following article published in the Hindu:

Media beckons rural
girls

FIROZ ROZINDAR

The Journalism Dept. of KSWU, Bijapur,Karnataka
is training girls from the backward North Karnataka region and helping them
land jobs in top media houses

The
media has become extremely popular but to get a foothold in it is still
considered a difficult task, especially for those who are not from big cities.
Studying a media course is an expensive option and still not an easy one for
many.

The
Karnataka State Women’s University at Bijapur has taken a step towards
facilitating girls from economically weaker sections, mainly of the backward
North Karnataka region, realise a dream they never thought was possible — of
joining the media.

The
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, started in 2006-07 in the
university, is striving hard to dispel the notion that the media is a man’s
forte, and to a large extent it has been successful, said Omkar Kakade, Head,
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC).

“The
media (both electronic and print) is still largely considered as a field ‘not
meant for girls’. A large chunk of society believes that journalism demands
strong conviction and psychological strength, which they think is present only
in the male fraternity,” he said.

Better
opportunities

Mr.
Kakade says the primary objective of starting the JMC in the University is not
only to make the girls of poor and orthodox families get convinced that the
media is open for them too, but also to provide better opportunities for girls
who are willing to join journalism.

“Courses
in journalism are being offered by several colleges and universities of the
State. Yet, many families do not send their daughters to other districts,
mainly because the colleges have a co-education system. The Women’s University
here solved this problem as it is meant for girls only. So, parents do not
hesitate to send their daughters to Bijapur. This is one of the main reasons
for North Karnataka girls showing interest in journalism,” he added.

The
success of the university in attracting girls of economically backward sections
could be judged by the fact that over 95 per cent of the girls who have opted
for journalism are from rural areas. Their parents are either in agriculture or
are lower-level government employees.

Mr.
Kakade said that ever since its inception, nearly 20 girls of the JMC department
have got jobs in reputed media organisations such as NDTV, Zee TV, Samaya TV,
Samyukta Karnataka and Kannada Prabha.

“Another
matter of pride is that our girls bagged the overall award in the
national-level media fest held in Bangalore in 2009-10. The girls added one
more jewel in our crown by emerging as runners-up in the State-level media fest
held in Dharwad in 2010-11,” he said.

Crucial
aspects

Mr.
Kakade listed four critical aspects that he believes have played a key role in
facilitating these girls finding placement in reputed media organisations in
the country and the State.

The
first one, he says, is that his department has a state-of-the-art television
studio which is on a par with any popular news channel of the country. “It is
important to have a sophisticated studio to make sure that the best training in
electronic media is given to the students so that when they get jobs, they
instantly get adjusted to the new atmosphere,” he said.

In
the studio, the students are made to participate in mock-interviews, conduct
discussions with panel experts and read bulletins.

The
second aspect is that the students are given extensive training in translation
from Kannada to English and vice versa to make them gain a command over the
language.

“Media
is all about language, and if one does not have command over the language, then
he/she will fail to qualify at the elementary level itself. Thus, we are
focusing greatly on improving their language and communication skills,” he
said.

The
third aspect is the creation of a curriculum that suits the need of media
houses. The curriculum has been prepared with the help of eminent people from
the field to help give the best knowledge to the students.

The
fourth point, which Mr. Kakade feels has the most importance, is the
introduction of practical aspects. “In the media, what gives students an edge
is the practical knowledge of the subject; unless students are made to work in
the field by giving them individual responsibilities, they will not become good
reporters or some may never find jobs in the field of journalism,” he said.

In
the fourth semester, the students must prepare a 15-minute documentary on a
subject of their interest. They have to work on their own to produce the
documentary that carries 100 marks.

Similar
work is given to print media students where they are supposed to come out with
their own magazine by selecting a subject of their choice which may range from
women’s issues to sports, entertainment and general news.

In-house
magazine

“Apart
from these, the Department has its own in-house fortnightly magazine ‘Mahila
Dhwani (Voice of Women)’ published with contributions from students themselves.
The magazine essentially helps the students learn various aspects of print
journalism,” Mr. Kakade said.

Zainab
Donur, a third semester student of the journalism department of the university,
said the course has given tremendous confidence to the girls of backward
regions. She said if girls join the media, they can highlight women-related
issues in a better way. Coming from a family of agriculturists, she hopes to
become a radio presenter in the future.

For
a Ph.D.

The
story of Pallavi Vaijanath of Gulbarga is equally encouraging. She not only
completed her journalism here and worked in various media organisations, but
has now joined the same university for doing her Ph.D. in “The role of radio in
the development of women — a case study of Gulbarga radio station.”

She
said that she is the only person in her family who has reached the higher
education level as all the other family members, including boys, did not study
beyond PUC.

A
pact with Tubingen

Expanding
its reach, the Karnataka State Women’s University at Bijapur has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tubingen University of Germany for joint
research programmes for students and faculty.

Elaborating
on the agreement, Omkar Kakade, Head, Department of Journalism and Mass
Communication (JMC), said that a few fourth semester students of the University
would be sent to Germany for higher studies and research. “We are hoping to
send the first batch of at least three students in 2014,” he added.

About Me

I worked as a professional journalist for over three decades. I began as a sub-editor with Pune’s daily Sakaal (1969-70) and worked with United News of India (1971-87), The Indian Post (1987-90) and The Observer of Business and Politics (1991-2000). I shifted to academics in 2001 as Professor and Head, Department of Communication and Journalism (DoCJ), University of Pune. My doctoral thesis and later UGC-funded study was on web editions of Indian Newspapers. After retirement in 2007, I was at the Mudra Institute of Communications Research, Ahmedabad, for a year. Here we studied viewers of Aastha channel’s live telecast of Swami Ramdev Baba, Use of Internet for Loksabha elections, and features of mobile handsets. I have been associated also with University of Mumbai, University of Calcutta, North Maharashtra University, and Indira Gandhi National Open University. I became Adjunct Faculty and Research Co-coordinator at FLAME School of Communication, Pune, in December 2009. I am an adjunct faculty also at DoCJ, University of Mumbai. Here I am Principal Investigator of UGC-funded Major Research Project on Language of English Newspapers of India.